Kidnapped Kappa
by chilled monkey
Summary: Ito is kidnapped and held hostage by a gang of thugs. Will help arrive in time?


Disclaimer: I do not own the manga/anime series, "Kyo Kara Ore Wa!" This story is purely a work of fanfiction. No profit is being made from it.

* * *

Shinji Ito leaned back against the wall and shut his eyes as he sighed happily. _Thank goodness Mitsuhashi has gone over to Riko's place today. Now I can spend the afternoon with Kyo-chan in peace. _He smiled softly as he thought about meeting up with his girlfriend.

He was completely unaware of a black van parked a short distance away and its occupants as they watched him closely. The man in the driver's seat asked, "are we sure that's him and not just some fan who's styled his hair the same way?"

"That's definitely Shinji Ito" replied one of the others.

"Let's get to it then" said the first man. He looked around to make sure that the street was empty except for their target. "We'll snatch him now, while there are no witnesses around."

"We had better be careful" said a third man. "I've heard this guy is really tough."

"He still has to breathe" replied the leader. "If we're quick enough he won't know what hit him."

Blissfully unaware of what was being said Ito opened his eyes and looked down at his watch. _Kyo-chan is late_ he thought with a frown. _I hope she's all right._

The sound of an engine caught his attention. He looked over curiously as a van drove up and then stopped in front of him.

Without warning the doors were flung open and several men burst out. All of them wore black balaclavas that concealed their faces completely, leaving only their eyes visible. He had no time to react as they seized him and roughly pressed a damp cloth to his nose and mouth before he could even start to fight back.

_Chloroform!_

But it was too late. He had already inhaled the fumes from the soaked cloth. His last thought before losing consciousness was _Kyo-chan…_

As he slumped lifelessly the masked assailants dragged him into their van and drove away.

* * *

Kyoko strolled casually across the street, enjoying the cool breeze ruffling her long auburn hair. She was a little late, having run into some friends of hers, started talking and lost track of time, but she knew that Ito would not mind. He was always so considerate and understanding.

She smiled as she thought about when they'd talked earlier on the phone and had arranged to meet here. He had sounded utterly delighted when he had mentioned seeing her again and his enthusiasm had increased further when he had added that Mitsuhashi was at Riko's so it would be just the two of them.

She giggled softly. Mitsuhashi was a great friend despite his faults but she had to agree that it would be nice to spend the afternoon with only Ito.

Her smile widened as she caught sight of Ito up ahead. Looking at his watch and deep in thought he hadn't noticed her yet. Kyoko was about to call a greeting when a van drove up and parked in front of Ito.

She watched in horror as a gang of masked men sprang out of the van and seized Ito, one of them pressing a cloth to his face. He started to struggle but almost immediately collapsed as he was rendered unconscious.

"Ito-san!" Kyoko cried as he was hauled into the van. At once the engine started and it began to drive away. "Ito-san!" she cried again.

Just then a taxi turned a corner. Without hesitation she hailed it. As soon as the driver had parked she jumped inside. "Follow that van" she said as she buckled on a seatbelt. "Don't let them see you."

The driver gave her a bemused look but did as she said and set off in pursuit of the black van.

Kyoko strained against her seatbelt as she tried to keep the van in her sight and to get a clear look at the license plate so that she could memorise it.

_Hold on Ito-san_ she thought as she clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white. Her heart pounded against her ribs as she tried to keep her fears for Ito from overwhelming her.

* * *

Fortunately the taxi driver was able to tail the van until eventually it came to a condemned factory building, one that had long ago been shut down and abandoned. It stopped outside and a man got out and opened a shutter door big enough to drive through.

"Stop here" said Kyoko. The driver did so and she quickly dug the amount needed for the fare from her purse, handed it over and then got out. The taxi driver immediately drove off as fast as he could.

She hurried over to a window and carefully peered inside. The gang, four men in total, had removed their balaclavas and were getting out of the van, two of them carrying Ito. She listened as they spoke.

"What did I tell you boys? That went as smooth as silk" said one of them as they tied Ito to a chair. He stirred and came to but before he could say anything they gagged him with a rag tied tightly around his mouth. He grunted in protest and struggled against his bonds but couldn't get free.

The man that had just spoken laughed. "There's no need to worry spike-head" he said mockingly. "Just sit tight and you'll be out of this in no time."

Ito glared at him furiously and he laughed again.

"Okay, so now we call his parents?" said another man.

"No, let's wait a bit first" said the leader. "We'll let them worry about where their son is and what happened to him. They'll be so desperate to get him back they'll pay up without question."

Kyoko gritted her teeth in anger. Clearly this gang had kidnapped Ito in order to demand a ransom from his family. Then a thought occurred to her and she suppressed an urge to gasp. The gang had let Ito see their faces. Why would they do that unless…

_Unless they don't intend to let him go at all_ she realised. _Even if they get a ransom they'll just kill Ito-san!_

Once again she pushed down her fears and focused on what the gang were saying as one of the men exclaimed, "so what, do we just sit around staring at the walls until its time to make the call?"

"Don't be stupid. We'll hit the bars and have ourselves a few celebration drinks. I'm paying" said the leader.

The rest of them cheered at that.

"Come on, let's stash him in a back room just in case" he added. "Not that there's anyone around to see him in this dump."

Kyoko realised that the gang's hideout was in an industrial area that had been almost completely abandoned. That must have been the reason they were unconcerned about leaving him unattended.

She watched as Ito was dragged out of the room until he was out of her sight and then she hid around a corner. A few minutes later the shutter door was raised and the van drove out. It stopped briefly so that one of them could get out and close the door again and then it drove off.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she ran up to the shutter door and opened it. Quickly but carefully she made her way through the abandoned factory building, following the direction Ito had been taken.

She soon found him in a room with bare concrete walls and floor. Aside from Ito, the chair he was tied to and a few bits of junk, the room was empty.

He looked up as he heard her approach and his eyes filled with surprise and relief. She smiled, feeling her heart swell with relief as she saw that he was unharmed.

"Hold on Ito-san, I'll get you out of here" she said.

But as she started to step forwards she froze as she heard movement behind her. She spun around to see one of the kidnappers. He was a few years older than her with short spiked black hair.

He grinned cruelly. "Well, well. It seems that Tetsuo found himself an intruder. Good thing I decided to have some fun with this punk. Now I get to do that and I get to cut up a little ***** as well" he said as he drew a knife.

Ito's eyes bulged and he grunted into his gag. _Run Kyo-chan!_

But she did not run. Instead she narrowed her eyes in determination and, keeping her gaze fixed on her opponent, reached down and picked up a length of metal pipe.

"I won't let you hurt Ito-san" she said firmly as she stood ready.

Tetsuo shrugged and then attacked with a rapid series of jabs and cuts that Kyoko dodged or deflected with the pipe. She stepped back, narrowly avoiding tripping over the clutter on the floor and swung her makeshift weapon. Tetsuo leaned back to avoid it and jabbed with his knife but Kyoko anticipated the attack and dodged again.

_That was close_ she thought. _I have to subdue him quickly but how… Wait, that's it!_

Ito struggled desperately to get loose but to no avail. _Please be careful Kyo-chan!_

He watched frantically as she took another swing that Tetsuo easily evaded. Then he realised that the swing was just a distraction to hide the fact that at the same time she was reaching into her pocket and drawing out something.

As Tetsuo started to lunge forwards again, Kyoko threw a handful of coins at his face. He immediately threw both hands up and swatted them away but in doing so he was left open for a second.

In that second, Kyoko landed a hit to his stomach. The knife clattered to the floor as he dropped to his knees, arms folded over his midriff and his face twisted in pain.

Kyoko glared at him as she carefully picked up the knife. "You're lucky I let you off so lightly" she said coldly.

The glare immediately vanished as she turned to Ito. "Are you all right Ito-san?" she asked as she untied him.

He removed the gag and smiled gratefully at her. "I'm fine, thanks to you Kyo-chan."

"Ito-san!" Kyoko exclaimed in relief as she hugged him tightly. He returned the hug for a few moments before both of them reluctantly let go.

"Let's get out of here and call the police Ito-san" she said.

They tied Tetsuo to the chair and left. As they were walking away from the factory Ito said "Thank you again for saving me Kyo-chan. I'm sorry our afternoon was ruined."

She smiled gently at him. "Don't apologise Ito-san. You haven't done anything wrong" she replied. "I am just glad that you're all right."

He smiled back and held her hand as they continued walking.

* * *

Later that afternoon, after they had called the police and the kidnappers had been arrested, they met up with Mitsuhashi and Riko at Riko's dojo. The two of them listened as Ito described what had happened.

"Wow" said Riko when he had finished. She turned to the other girl and grinned at her. "You were very brave and smart Kyoko-chan."

"Definitely" Mitsuhashi agreed with a nod.

"Thank you" she replied with a soft giggle.

"She certainly was" Ito agreed as he looked at her proudly.

"Yes I'd have liked to have seen that" said Mitsuhashi. He grinned slyly. "Still, that gang must not be too smart."

"What do you mean San-chan?" Riko asked.

"Well they should have known they were asking for trouble by kidnapping a kappa" he replied.

Ito glared at him "What did you call me?"

"I called you a kappa, kappa."

As Mitsuhashi and Ito continued arguing, Kyoko and Riko looked at each other and laughed happily.


End file.
